*** BAUDOUIN BOLLAERT: Angela Merkel. Portrait. Editions du Rocher (6 place Saint-Sulpice, F-75006 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 40465400 - Fax: 40469136). 2006, 304 pp, €19. ISBN 2-268-06029-2.
"On the physical level, it would be an exaggeration to claim that Angela Merkel is as eye-catching as Claudia Schiffer..." In the Brussels Euro-village he covered for a number of years, Baudouin is remembered as an elegant journalist and gentleman and this is a book in his own image. It is the work of a journalist, both serious and light-hearted at the same time, sparkling like good champagne, which can be read in one sitting without having to work too hard at it. Merkel is not the same as Schiffer? Some rare individuals are aware from experience that jottings of a journalist can sometimes turn into the acerbic sketchings of a caricaturist. The writer who recently left French newspaper Le Figaro did not fall victim to this temptation in this book - he has provided a classy portrait of the politician who so recently Helmut Kohl used to call "Das Mädchen" - 'the girl'.
Who is Angela Merkel? These days everyone in Europe knows that she is the first woman to become Chancellor of Germany, on 22 November 2005 to be precise. But what else do they know? What paths led her to the political heights? How did this 'enigmatic yet human' figure emerge, this intelligent, strong-minded woman? "Angela Merkel? She's the only man in the CDU who's got any!", as German magazine "Stern" put it. At each step of her rise to power, the author comments, she has displayed an exceptional ability to tap into the mood of the times and anticipate events without compromising her personal credo in any way, such that she is able to understand events, influence them and adapt to them. This comment helps gives us a good idea of the nature of this book explaining the life of a woman who seems to collect nicknames. The old nickname "Mädchen" has been replaced by "Angie" and Maggie Merkel. The book describes the life of the daughter of an archetypal German theologian, who moved East in 1954 because of her father's evangelical mission. In Eastern Germany, her Protestant father made peace with the regime in the name of a 'Church within Socialism' and no doubt also on behalf of certain political ideas because after reunification of Germany he said one day that he had wanted a democratic East Germany, but people wanted the German Mark and got it. Angela Merkel grew up and won her spots in reaction to the existing regime, adapting to the regime (joining the Young Pioneers and then the Free German Youth movement affiliated to the Communist Party) though a survival instinct, without ever crossing the yellow line, explains the author. After achieving outstanding grades in a Masters in physics, she moved to East Berlin where she spent the night of 9 November 1989 at a sauna! Later on, she explained that she didn't think the Berlin Wall would fall that night. Later on she entered politics and obtained her first government post at the time of the first democratic elections in East Germany (she was deputy spokesperson for the short-lived government of Lothar de Maizière). She experienced German reunification, met Helmut Kohl and was elected to the Bundestag for the first time. The book outlines the stages in her rise to power within the CDU and her eventual victory over Gerhard Schröder to become Germany's first woman Chancellor. It is all described in a very lively style, not making any real revelations but providing a multitude of details to allow readers to get a better idea of this complex woman who likes cultivating secrets.
And what about her role on the European stage? So many hopes have been placed in the woman who has been acting President of the European Council since 1 January 2007, hopes that she will manage to get the European Union out of the doom and gloom it has settled in since the French and Dutch no votes in the referendums on the Constitution. Is Angela Merkel a European integration activist? Her European convictions have deepened, at any rate, through contact with Helmut Kohl, which is a guarantee in itself, and she makes no bones about publicly declaring herself to be one of the most fervent defenders of the draft European Constitution. The author explains that continuing the legacy of Adenauer and Kohl, she is planning to fight to defend a Europe of solidarity, placing Germany centre stage. In truth, Europeans disenchanted with the current sheepishness of the EU expect exactly that from this pragmatist from the East who asked us the question, 'What will happen tomorrow if we do not do anything today?'
Michel Theys
*** CATHERINE CAZALE, JEANNE PUCHOL: Jean Monnet, bâtisseur d'Europe. Editions de l'An 2 (Internet: http://www.editionsdelan2.com ). 2006, 59 pp, quarto, €12-50. ISBN 2-84856-075-4.
Europe at school! So many questions about this but so few initiatives! We should therefore welcome the initiative taken by the region of Poitou-Charentes in France in publishing this cartoon. The life of this famous man from the Charentes region, the 'builder of Europe' who, as is known, inspired Robert Schuman, is illustrated in simple, familiar language by young pupils from Lycée Jean Monnet (school) in Cognac, Monnet's birthplace. In the preface, the president of the region, Ségolène Royal, stresses the historical significance of Jean Monnet's action with regard to the future of European citizens. This still topical quote by the man is highlighted in the book - we only have the choice of changes that will carry us away and changes that we are able to desire and carry out (Strasbourg, 12 May 1954).
(J-RR)
*** JEAN-PIERRE CHEVENEMENT: La faute de M. Monnet. Fayard (Paris). "L'idée républicaine" series. 2006, 148 pp, €12-20. ISBN 2-782213-63083-0.
Unlike the previous book, this one has not been written for children but for adults with powers of discerning and the right to vote. It outlines Jean Monnet's fault (or rather his faults). He is accused of being prisoner of his own economism because he never focussed on political problems. He is also accused of not saying it, but wanting to create a Federation. It would no doubt be a good idea if the author, a fervent defender of national sovereignty, went back and read Jean Monnet's "Mémoires" to fine-tune his prosecutor's charge …
(J-RR)
*** HENRI COMTE, NICOLAS LEVRAT (Eds.): Aux coutures de l'Europe. Défis et enjeux juridiques de la cooperation transfrontalière. L'Harmattan (5-7 rue de l'Ecole-Polytechnique, F-75005 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 40467920 - Fax: 43258203 - E-mail: diffusion.harmattan@wanadoo.fr - Internet: http://www.librairieharmattan.com ). "Logiques juridiques" series. 2006, 365 pp, €31. ISBN 2-296-00854-3.
This book continues the work carried out for several years by a team of international researchers into cross-border cooperation around France. The research focuses on a question giving rise to a serious legal problem - namely the mechanisms and legal rules to be used for cooperation beyond state boundaries among state public bodies since, as Prof. Comte and Prof. Levrat explain in the introduction, these stakeholders are traditionally confined to separate nations by the legal system and tend to be excluded from the international scene. In the first part of the book, various essays examine progress in cross-border projects involving France and its neighbours. The second part reflects on the need to adapt legal, financial and democratic tools in order to allow a renewed legal approach to the cross-border phenomenon, the hypothesis upon which the researchers' work is based being the hypothesis of a 'new partitioning', dividing up legal questions at the level of drawing up cross-border strategies (genuine cross-border policies) and legal questions connected with the implementation of cross-border strategies (a form of cross-border management), which would allow the emergence of solutions more in-step with the concrete demands made by players in the field, explain the authors. At the end of this process, modalities for cross-border governance start to emerge.
(PBo)
*** L'Europa e il Mediterraneo. Periodico culturale politico per il federalismo. Associazione L'Europa e il Mediterraneo (7 via Sant'Antonio, c/o Studio Martinelli, I-37121 Verona. E-mail: domus@studiompg.191.it). October 2006.
The fourth issue of this fortnightly journal created by Andrea Chiti-Batelli and Lino Marinello to try to resurrect European federal ideals in a critical manner includes articles on themes as diverse as Europe's Christian roots, Italy's mission in the Lebanon, the African Union and the agreement between Russia and the Ukraine on gas supplies. In an article entitled “Europe seen from Verona", Chiti-Batelli argues that the institutional construction is not the be-all and end-all, and like all contributions, it is used to carry out policies and it is the policies themselves that federalists should consider more frequently and with greater attention (concretely, he describes Italy's abandoning of nuclear power as an 'extremely serious error'). Lino Martinelli argues for a genuine federalism that pledges to take concrete issues like communications problems and combatting organised crime and drugs…
(MG)
*** FLORENCE CHALTIEL: Le processus de décision dans l'Union européenne. La Documentation française (29-31 quai Voltaire, F-75344 Paris Cedex 07. Tel: (33-1) 40157000 - Fax: 40157230 - Internet: http://www.ladocumentationfranaise.fr ). "Réflexe Europe" series. 2006, 165 pp, €12. ISBN 2-11-006011-5.
The daily life of European citizens is generally governed by decisions taken at EU level, but the European Union remains, for most people, a hugely unidentified political object. Against this backdrop, this book (as Prof. Jean-Luc Sauron explains in the preface) meets a democratic demand. In simple, precise but readable terms for most readers, the author, a lecturer in law at the 'Institut d'études politiques' in Grenoble (France), describes the generally democratic institutional paths leading to decision-making in the EU. Diagrams and tables help boost the educational value of this book which, as Prof. Sauron explains, will help readers fully understand what is at stake in EU decision-making, which still plays an active role in deciding the future of all us. (PBo)
*** CHRISTIAN JÄGER, ANNA VON RECHENBERG: Stage Europe, Praktika bei den EU-Institutionen, Ein Wegweiser. 3 überarbeitete und erweiterte Ausgabe. Europa-Kontakt Informations- und Verlagsgesellschaft GmbH (Breite Str. 29, D-10178 Berlin. Tel: (+49) 30 203084070 - Fax: 203084077 - Internet: http://www.europa-kontakt.de ). 2006, 196 pp. ISBN 3-9808024-9-3.
This guide to training courses in European Union institutions is aimed at anyone thinking of doing temporary work in the EU institutions. It gives a very comprehensive description of the range of departments where it is possible to do training courses, listing not only the Directorate Generals of the European Commission, departments at the European Parliament, the Council, the Court of Justice and specialist agencies, but also in diplomatic offices of the EU and its Member States. It gives precise details of funding and the participation rules for each of the listed options. For each department mentioned, the book gives a detailed description of tasks, working methods, duration, location, admission criteria, working conditions and language use. Details concerning who to contact, addresses, e-mails, often the name of the person responsible for training courses, and deadlines for applying to each of the departments described are provided clearly and systematically, greatly simplifying the applications process. This is a highly comprehensive source of information covering not only the EU institutions but also providing, in the last ten pages, an exhaustive list of other European or international organisations providing training courses. Published in German by a private organisation, it would be interesting to know whether the European Commission itself has published a similar source of information in all EU languages - highly desirable to put all young people across the EU Member States on an equal footing. (GFr)
*** PENNY RAE, CARL CORDONNIER: Vivre l'Europe. Dialogue avec la société civile. European Economic and Social Committee (99 rue Belliard, B-1040 Brussels. Internet: http: //http://www.eesc.europa.eu ). 2006, 222 pp.
A beautiful idea from the European Economic and Social Committee, and more particularly its previous President Anne-Marie Sigmund, to commission Penny Rae and photographer Carl Cordonnier to describe meetings with a representative of organised civil society in each Member States (including Bulgaria and Romania), focussing on the 'bridges' between them through a series of topics, like Europe's perfumes and flavours, giving competitiveness a human face, or fashioning a new European landscape. The resulting book is a poetic and educational masterpiece for readers wishing to understand passionate unity in diversity as expressed in the field. (MT)
*** Osons l'avenir… Editions Publisud (15 rue des Cinq Diamants, F-75013 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 45807850 - Fax: 45899415 - E-mail: publisud.editions@cegetel.net). 2006, 215 pp, €36. ISBN 2-86600-596-8.
Arguing that it would be 'vain and dangerous to think that only popular representations professionals' are capable to tackling modern challenges, the 'Centre d'Etude et de Prospective Stratégique' has gathered together one hundred representatives of French civil society who give full expression to their creativity in this book, formulating concrete proposals on issues like competitiveness, culture, defence, security, education and training, employment, energy and the environment, integration and social cohesion, healthcare, media and information technology. When it comes to Europe, they suggest creating a special legal status for SMEs and associations, concluding the single market in energy, encouraging the adoption of a European legal framework for public services (in order to avoid divergence among regulations becoming a source of competition) and establishing the conditions for European involvement by France and French people around a 'Single Project Act'. (PBo)